Further to its tie-up with Johnson & Johnson for development of industry-oriented skilled manpower, the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Ahmedabad is planning to collaborate with leading Indian companies - Biotech Visioncare and Matrix Meditec Pvt Ltd for research and development in Intraocular Lenses and Orthopedic implants to equip students to take up job roles in the industry.

This would also be a value addition to the post-graduate studies in medical devices run exclusively at the NIPER Ahmedabad campus towards equipping students with the latest updates on technology advancements in the country.

This is a significant milestone as India's import dependency on high-end medical devices is over 80 per cent and 60 per cent to 70 per cent for other devices. A dedicated medical devices park by the government is also currently in the process of being set up at Vishakhapatnam which will help in reducing import dependency and increasing export.

Development of domestic industry has gained further impetus as government of India is planning to expand NIPERs across the country to nurture manpower and hence boost domestic manufacturing of medical devices in the country. More than 70 per cent of medical devices are imported as of today which has impacted the development of the domestic industry.

NIPER Ahmedabad had earlier this year signed two MoUs with Johnson & Johnson and Sahajanand Laser Technologies to develop an ecosystem for development of medical devices sector in the country.

As per official sources, a total of 17 MoUs were signed between seven NIPERs and pharma industry for academia industry linkages recently. Academia-industry linkage is a significant development as one of the critical factors in building innovation ecosystem for medical devices industry.

DoP has identified academia-industry linkage as a basic requirement for translating research into development (commercialisation) and innovation; and also to fix accountability among the educational institutions.